PARKINSON'S  DISEASE

Ours Comprehensive, client-centered physical therapy for people with Parkinson is based on compensatory strategies to bypass the defective basal ganglia, strategies to improve motor learning and performance through practice, management of secondary sequelae affecting the musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems, and fall

Parkinson disease  is a common progressive neurological disorder, especially among older adults.

Movement disorders, and in particular gait disorders, are a hallmark of PD. The slow, short-stepped, shuffling, forward-stooped gait with asymmetrical arm swing In addition to experiencing difficulties with the performance of well-learned movement sequences such as walking, turning, writing, and transfers, some people with PD report falls, cognitive impairment, and autonomic disturbances .

Physical therapist management of gait disorders in people with PD has 3 key elements.

The first element is “strategy training”” teaching the person how to move more easily and to maintain postural stability by using cognitive strategies and targets the primary motor control deficit in the basal ganglia, brain stem, and motor cortex. There are 2 forms of strategy training:

 (1) compensatory strategies to bypass the efective basal ganglia and

 (2) learning strategies to improve performance through practice.

 The second element of physical therapy is the management of secondary sequelae affecting the musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory systems that occur as a result of deconditioning, reduced physical activity, advanced age, and comorbid conditions.

The third element is the promotion of physical activities that assist the person in making lifelong changes in exercise and physical activity habits as well as preventing falls.